It's almost breathtaking how helpless the Biden administration is. This makes the Trump administration's jarring pace even more pronounced, for better or worse. President Trump has already set us on a new course internationally, and will begin restructuring our government, and will soon target the domestic economy. It is important that he focuses on the American dream of home ownership.
Although most regions are largely indecisive, Joe Biden's Housing Development Bureau seemed particularly bendable at slowing the market and increasing prices for American consumers, including those who bought the home.
Trump's appointments at HUD and the Justice Department will win early by regaining law and order into the housing market.
It appears that President Trump is on a better path. Scott Turner, a former Texas representative and new housing and urban development secretary, sailed through confirmation last month. He moved quickly to reverse the troubling Biden-era regulations, including positively promoting fair housing rules for 2021. In effect, zoning tax It drove housing costs.
Biden era policy reversal
Certainly, Turner's HUD pursues a different priorities than the Biden administration. Biden's housing agenda focused primarily on issues of diversity and equity. One example was departmental leadership of the Interagency Task Force on Property Evaluation and Evaluation Equity.
A variety of government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, have joined this vast task force. Even before Turner confirmed, the Trump administration began. Scrub the task force From the government website as part of the President's anti-DEI executive order.
In order for Turner to restore American dreams of American ownership, he must dismantle many of the task force initiatives and other Biden-era housing policies.
Immediately after confirmation on February 5th, Turner He told the Wall Street Journal He will move quickly to eradicate inefficiency in the department and streamline HUD. He also committed to scrutinizing diversity, equity and inclusive policies such as “assessment bias.”
Rocket Mortgage Revisited
A recent valuation bias lawsuit filed by the Biden Department of Justice against many defendants, including Rocket Mortgage, the country's largest mortgage lender, shows how the Biden administration prioritized the DEI agenda over more affordable housing. The lawsuit will be a good place for Turner to begin.
In 2021, HUD took over the investigation from Colorado authorities after Rocket's mortgage client claimed she was a victim of valuation bias. July 2024, HUD The lawsuit has been announced To Rocket Mortgage and third-party appraisers Solidifi Us and Maverick Appraisal Group. In October, more than two weeks before the presidential election, the Ministry of Justice He filed a lawsuit In Denver, businesses allegedly discriminated against black homeowners by underestimating her home based on her race.
The lawsuit is attracting attention Former HUD official and Legal Scholar This is because the proposed relief from the Department of Justice Rocket Mortgage sets a dangerous precedent by retaining a mortgage lender who will be responsible for independent appraisers hired by mortgage applicants.
Independence of evaluation is essential
The principle of Evaluation independentestablished under the Dodd-Frank Act, ensuring that the independent judgment of the appraiser is free from the influence of other parties that may benefit. This eliminated the conflict of interest that contributed to the housing bubble before 2008, and earned an inflated reputation for lenders to take on more risk and increase profits.
Fanny May maintains Factsheet It outlines the independence of the valuation of sellers and future borrowers, and emphasizes that lenders expressly prohibit them from participating in valuation orders, the choice or recommendation of a particular independent evaluator, or communications that may affect the valuation.
Evaluation bias is a real problem, but it comes from some bad apples rather than malfunctioning systems. The Biden administration's attempt to rewrite housing laws through the Department of Justice risks disrupting the mortgage lending industry and preventing further homeownership from achieving further homeownership by reversing protections to prevent the 2008 housing bubble.
By dismantling the barriers between independent appraisers and lenders, the Biden Department of Justice has threatened to create uncertainty in the industry and destabilize the housing market.
Trump's appointments at HUD and the Justice Department will win early by regaining law and order into the housing market. In doing so, they can help make American dreams of American ownership affordable once again.
